Andre Jones drive vs. Texas State 2022
Luke Richard/ULM Athletics
63
Winner Texas St. TXST 17-6,8-3 Sun Belt
54
La.-Monroe ULM 13-13,5-9 Sun Belt
Winner
Texas St. TXST
17-6,8-3 Sun Belt
63
Final
54
La.-Monroe ULM
13-13,5-9 Sun Belt
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Texas St. TXST 30 33 63
La.-Monroe ULM 29 25 54

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Second-Half Scoring Drought Costly as ULM Falls to Texas State, 63-54

MONROE, La. – Shelby Adams and Isiah Small combined for 32 points to lead Texas State to a 63-54 victory over ULM Saturday afternoon to complete the Sun Belt Conference regular-season sweep over the Warhawks and extend its current winning streak to five in a row. It also marked Texas State's eighth consecutive win in the series.
 
There were two lead changes and five ties in a tightly contested first half.
 
Texas State (17-6, 8-3 Sun Belt) jumped out to a 7-2 lead on Small's 3-pointer from the top of the circle with 16:09 on the clock. Andre Jones' coast-to-coast drive for a layup and free throw sparked a 15-7 run as ULM took a 17-14 lead on Russell Harrison's 3 from the top of the circle, off a pitch back from Elijah Gonzales with 11:20 left in the opening half. The Warhawks grabbed a four-point lead at 20-16 as Jones converted another traditional three-point play with 8:57 remaining. The Bobcats pulled even at 20-all and 22-all, but ULM matched its largest lead at 27-23 as Jones hit a pair of free throws with 2:25 to go. Texas State put together a 7-0 spurt and took a 30-27 advantage on a three-point play from Adams with 59 seconds left. Harrison's left-handed scoop shot cut the Warhawks' halftime deficit to one at 30-29.
 
Jones (12) and Harrison (10) accounted for 22 of ULM's 29 first-half points.
 
Texas State outscored the Warhawks, 11-2, over the first 5:33 of the second half and built its biggest lead at 41-31 on Adams' 15-foot jumper from the right elbow. ULM (13-13, 5-9) answered with an 8-3 run and pulled to within 44-39 as Jones completed his third traditional three-point play with 12:49 on the clock. The Warhawks missed five-straight field-goal attempts and went scoreless for the next 4:55 as Texas State pushed its lead to 48-39. Gonzales ended ULM's scoring drought with a 3-pointer from the left corner as the Warhawks cut their deficit to 48-42 with 7:54 remaining. ULM managed to trim its deficit to five points twice in the final three minutes – the last time at 58-53 on Harrison's left-handed layup with 59 seconds left. Texas State closed out the game by converting 8-of-9 free-throw attempts over the final 1:15.
 
"They are a good defensive team, and they have been for some time," ULM head basketball coach Keith Richard said. "You could feel their defensive presence out there. At times, it was a struggle for us to score, regardless of what we tried to run. Give Texas State credit for its man-to-man defense. They don't have very thick players, but they have a lot of length within their playing group. We needed to score better to win that thing.
 
"We had a prolonged scoring drought somewhere there in the second half, and when you play a team like Texas State that prefers a low-possession type of game, then an eight-point lead feels like a 12- or 14-point lead for them. You simply can't afford a scoring drought like that against Texas State. Again, give them credit because they're a good defensive team. You have to play well offensively against Texas State to have a chance to beat them."
 
The Bobcats made 19-of-44 field-goal attempts (43 percent), including 5-of-17 3-pointers (29 percent). By comparison, ULM shot just 36 percent (19-of-53) from the floor, including 23 percent (5-of-22) from 3-point range. Texas State outscored the Warhawks, 20-11, from the free-throw line. The Bobcats also outrebounded ULM, 35-29, and held a 12-1 in advantage in fast-break points. The Warhawks enjoyed a plus-10 margin in points in the paint, 28-18.
 
"I sure felt like we played well enough defensively to give us a chance to win," Richard said. "We held Texas State eight points under its season scoring average, but the name of the game is to put the ball in the hole. We didn't do it consistently enough this afternoon."
 
Adams, who made 6-of-8 shots from the field including 2-of-3 3s, finished with a team-high 17 points. The Bobcats also got 15 points from Small and 12 points and seven rebounds from Mason Harrell.
 
Jones led ULM in scoring for the fourth-straight contest, posting a game-high 20 points after hitting 6-of-16 field-goal and 8-of-9 free-throw attempts. He has netted 20 or more points in each of his last four games, averaging 23.5 points during the stretch while climbing into the Sun Belt's Top 10 in overall scoring (seventh at 15.0 ppg.).
 
Harrison added 15 points as the only other Warhawk to reach double figures.
 
Nika Metskhvarishvili, ULM's fourth-leading scorer at 10.3 points per game, sat out Saturday's game with an illness.
 
"It certainly helps when you have a full roster available," Richard said. "At least, you feel like you have all the bullets in your gun, so to speak."
 
ULM closes out its regular-season home schedule on "Senior Night" next Thursday, Feb. 19 against the Ragin' Cajuns, with tipoff set for 6:30 p.m. Prior to the game, the Warhawks will recognize its four-member 2022 Senior Class, in Jones, Harrison, Reginald Gee and Justin Gibson.
 
"The one thing this team has done all year is respond after extreme disappointment," Richard said. "They've been resilient. They've come back the next week ready to work. With the last home game coming up, they'll step up into the ring and start swinging again. I know they'll do that."
 
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